‘Trendsetters’ Nintendo game fosters fashionistas

Jinny GudmundsenUSA TODAY

Thursday

Feb 14, 2013 at 12:29 PM

With Fashion Week happening in New York City this week, new clothing trends are splashing across TV and computer screens, newspapers and magazines. If this media blitz has piqued your child’s interest in fashion, Style Savvy: Trendsetters is a great way to expand that interest into learning about the business. This handheld game for the Nintendo 3DS puts the player in charge of running a fashion boutique.Players start off as a shop assistant in a boutique, interacting with customers to make recommendations. Players quickly pick up on words like bold, daring, preppy or elegant in trying to determine a customer’s taste in clothing. If you make fashion recommendations that match the customer’s taste, they are more likely to buy the clothes you recommend. The customer will also reveal how much they want to spend; so staying within budget is also relevant.To help you learn the language and styles of fashion, the game comes with a built-in glossary. You can search clothing by taste, meaning sorting different clothing into styles that fit the descriptions of girly, pop, sporty, edgy and many other adjectives used by your customers. The search feature also allows you to sort by a specific clothing brand, color, pattern, and price. However, some customers don’t use searchable language; so you will need to study what they are currently wearing to try to discern their style.When you get good at giving fashion advice, and the boutique starts making money, the owner notices and promotes you to store manager. Now you get to design the look and feel of the shop. The image you select for your store affects the type of customer you will attract.In addition to designing the store interior, you also have control over the store window and exterior. You can also decorate your own apartment. Each day, you select your own clothing and can coordinate your hair and makeup.In addition to dispensing fashion advice, you must keep the store stocked by visiting the Buyer’s Center and selecting the clothing to be sold in your store. The game offers more than 12,000 clothing items and accessories for you to sell. Within the Buyer’s Center, you can find brands and clothing lines that represent certain trends. Some of these styles include Goth, preppy, Asian-inspired, traditional, basic and girly.By playing “Style Savvy: Trendsetters,” kids learn about how different fashion styles or trends have unique looks. They can gain a better understanding of the wide variety of styles that make up the fashion world. By experimenting with what their avatar wears (the avatars are only girls) or how they put together outfits for customers, budding fashionistas can expand their fashion sense. Players will also learn about budgeting to run a business. They have to make money so they can restock their store.Style Savvy: Trendsetters is fun because it plays like a simulation. People talk to you, share their lives, and remember you from previous encounters. You make relationships with the people you meet in the game. The hair stylist becomes your friend, as does the girl selling flowers in the park. The more you interact with others within your store or in the community, the more you add to your happiness meter. When your happiness meter fills up, new clothing lines or locations become available. One such location is the Contest Hall, where you can participate in fashion contests. This is a game that unlocks over time.This is the second game in the Style Savvy series. New to this version are men’s clothing, purses and an in-game photo studio. This version also offers a fashion show competition over local Wi-Fi, where up to four players who all own the game can collaborate by sharing clothing from within their in-game closets. And if you connect to the Internet via Nintendo Network, you can also visit a Fashion Plaza to see other stores created by players around the world.Style Savvy: Trendsetters is a terrific way for kids who are interested in fashion to take their passion to new levels by learning about the business while also honing their own unique fashion style.

Jinny Gudmundsen is the author of the new book: iPad Apps for Kids, part of the For Dummies series. Contact her at techcomments@usatoday.com. Follow her @JinnyGudmundsen.

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